Chrysler seems determined to forge ahead with plans for an electric fleet if its presentations at the Detroit Motor Show are anything to go by.
First on show was the final design of the two-seat Dodge EV coupé, now officially called the Circuit. It may be an electrified Lotus Europa underneath but in its new corporate Dodger …

Some good stuff on the way

Despite the misinformed bashing that Detroit auto makers frequently receive, they have some good products and more on the way. GM's hybrid Caddy SRX gets 20 mpg city, which is very good for a 6,000 lb. SUV. Ford's new Mustang and Dodge's Challenger are very cool. GM has the new Camaro coming in a month or two. Chrylser seems to be well along on numerous electric and hybrid vehicles. GM actually offers more 30+ mpg models in the U.S than Honda or Toyota.

Detroit not quite got it then?

So a Tesla clone for the PR and a mid level rep-mobile with enough 'hybrid' in it to count toward any tax breaks while being very careful not to get the customer interested in any sub-compacts with their sub-compact profit margins.

Not everyone can afford a $100K Tesla roadster

Seems to me there is a lot of good new vehicles starting to come from Detroit. While the Tesla Roadster is fast and cool, it's not a practical everyday vehicle for most people. In addition the $110K price tag makes it inaccessible to most people. Chrysler's models look like mainstream products.

@Martin

A long-range compact or sub-compact EV is a bit more tricky to produce than a mid-sized vehicle, mainly because of the batteries. You have more room in a mid-size vehicle to store all the batteries needed than you do in a sub-compact design. Well... you could have as many batteries, but you wouldn't have any usable boot/trunk space... and possibly no back seat... and maybe no passenger seat.

That being said, I, too, am waiting for a compact or sub-compact EV that has a decent range and able to do (US) highway speed without breaking into a sweat. I'll even go for an extended range vehicle (you know, the ones with the petrol-powered electric generator). I'm willing to give auto makers some slack on this. They've only seriously started to produce electric vehicles in the past couple of years, and they're still trying to get the technology right. (Yes, I know of the EV1, thank you.)

Bill Gates blows

Techo-leaf??

TECHNO-LEAF????!!!?????

I've got absofuckinglutely no idea what one of these really is*, but I call for the banhammer on this term. Now. What is it about the septics that they can't do anything even vaguely innovative without coming up with a whole appendix to the lexicon of shite neologisms to describe it?

*Which is sort of the point. What's the reasoning behind dreaming up a shite buzzword if the result doesn't leave the reader any the wiser as to WTF it's describing?

Bah where's my hydrogen car

I'm sorry i agree with topgear on this hydrogen fuel cells are the way to go here oil/petrol station companies will fight this to the end but if you give then some other form of business they can change to it'll help them and they will back it

plus range/recharge issues go away at this point as hydrogen can be refueled in a simalar way to natural gas cars. so some petrol stations already have the kit. so no recharing it at work /increased drain on national grid etc etc

yes iknow there is the whole storing hydrogen problem and the producing it to but some one will get that down sooner or later

hmm maybe a combination of hydrogen long hual vechiles and battery cars for every one else. may work.

and they wonder why the car industry is in trouble?

A Step In the Right Direction

This is exactly the kind of car I envision to be the next generation. It'll use an alternative fuel source and be information-centric. I'm really not sure an old dinosaur of a company can pull it off though. I was expecting a few start-ups on the premise of building a next generation car with next generation manufacturing processes and without the bullshit cost of running union shops. Oh, how'd I'd love to see the UAW finally put out of business. We'll see what happens.